One of them, in particular, stands out as the grubbiest, most ill-spoken child they have ever met, but with her warmth and friendliness, Gloria Mulligan soon wins a special place in Sally???s heart. Sally hasn???t been lucky enough to have children of her own and she sees in Gloria the daughter she???s always wished for. Meanwhile Gloria, who has been starved of genuine affection from her own large family, secretly wishes that she will never have to go home again. But life seldom works out as we would wish and when the horror of war begins to take its toll, Sally, Gloria and the entire Blackpool community must face the consequences???

    Meanwhile, Ailith is forced to disguise herself as a man and become a troubadour, and Fauston contemplates losing the love of his life, Bonjute, when she returns to England. Roger commands an undermanned city against the army of Saladin, Henry of Deraa comes face to face with Qaymaz, and Richard rides into legend as the Third Crusade comes to a close.

    Amid rising tensions among the Jews and the reigning Nazi party, Carl Mann--the patriarch of the Mann family--is forced to take a job in one of the scariest places imaginable: Literally in Adolf Hitler's backyard. In this unusual coming of age tale, curious young girls may say or do the wrong things, but how many times can the high-ranking German officials (and Hitler himself) look the other way? Can they survive in his backyard? This book is filled with suspense, historical detail, family life, and even a little romance. A great choice for book clubs with Book Club questions @garethompson-writer.com. The perfect gift for those who are love reading about World War II, as the setting is authentic. For middle schoolers, compare it to Diary of Anne Frank.

    Her father was a monster.How could Vera have been so blind to what was right before her eyes?After the death of her kind and loving Papa, Vera’s home is claimed by ne’er do well Uncle Merritt, who drives the household with cruelty and deprivation. Working for her keep, the once privileged Vera is driven to skin and bone and dreads the harsh beatings that Merritt regularly delivers.Ralph, Papa’s loyal and brave stableboy, cannot bear to see Vera shrinking daily under the hand of Merritt. In an attempt protect her, he challenges Merritt and now, tossed to streets, must survive however he can.With the loss of Ralph, Vera’s soul aches, made worse as she watches her father’s elderly servants treated with cruel indignity. In a desperate bid to protect them from Uncle Merritt, his rage is fuelled, and Vera is delivered an ultimatum, causing her to flee from her home. With nowhere to go, Vera too, finds herself on the streets.As starvation threatens, it is only Ralph and her new friend, Maggie, that keep her alive. But when Maggie unexpectedly reveals the truth about Vera's Papa, Vera is plunged to new despair. Will the truth destroy her? Can she keep secrets for the rest of her life? Will she ever be able to make things right? And will she agree to Ralphs’s plan, even though it means she may lose him forever?For fans of Dilly Court and Historical Romance

    Ultimate mission. But can the SAS break in to a Colombian island prison and snatch an Argentine killer?1996: a terminally ill father desperately seeks answers to what happened to his son, missing for twenty years. He has the names of two Argentine men – one in Mexico City, the other imprisoned on the Colombian island of Providencia – but no one to ask the questions.A missing girl’s family have given her up for dead when they stumble upon a Miami newspaper story mentioning two of her friends. One has just died; the other, half-deranged, tells a garbled story of sexual slavery on a Caribbean island which sounds suspiciously like Providencia.MI6 and the British government are certain that a huge drug-trafficking empire is being run from the prison, and know that some of the profits are being funnelled by its Argentine ‘guest’ into financing a mercenary invasion of the Falklands. Ignored by the Colombian authorities and mysteriously obstructed by their American allies, the British have no choice but to send in their own elite force – the SAS.

    Army sergeant, recovered from battle with Rommel’s Afrika Korps, is appointed the leader of a dozen very bright, know-it-all draftees being poured into the Army’s replacement pool. He toughens them into an effective but naïve team. After they come ashore at Utah Beach, the Wehrmacht hands out its own bloody lessons. In minutes, one is dead and a second wounded, the start of a pitiless 10-month ordeal. In horrific combat from Normandy through the Bulge to the Elbe River, they learn to fight a more skilled and hardened enemy. All pay a steep price.

    Many Southerners were losing everything they had, many more people than just those few who had held slaves. While most tried to stay and hang on to the decorum of Southern gentility, a few decided that rather then lose their family farms and businesses it would be better to build a new life elsewhere. This is the story of one such group, who determined that their future and the futures of their friends and families was to be found in Texas. Jed Simpson and his partner Roscoe Sartain are joined by families from both North and South, black and white, and on the advice of a fellow Confederate, they stop in Rusk. Finding an old, now vacant, plantation, they manage to buy it and start rebuilding it as a small ranch, The Chalice. All is going better than any of them expected, until Jed’s past comes calling. Aided by friends both new and old, blood flows freely as Jed tries to put that past behind him once and for all. But the toll it takes may be too much for him as he faces down the last of his tormentors.

    She was promptly sent away by her philandering father, the colliery owner Robert Harvey, to become an educated and accomplished young woman - and to escape the beatings at the cruel hand of her vengeful stepmother, Hannah. As Bess finishes boarding school, a tragic accident strikes Robert Harvey, almost killing him, and the decline of the family's fortunes means Bess and her siblings must find spouses to provide for them. After a series of doomed arranged encounters with potential suitors, Bess's stepmother is forced to take drastic action against her to protect herself and her family. Who is the mystery fiancé Hannah Harvey has in mind? And how will Bess feel knowing the decision means she will never be free to marry her childhood sweetheart?

    

     In 1806, the return to St. Louis of Lewis and Clark from their epic journey across the unexplored American West with their tales of untold abundance of valuable furbearers excited the populace. Manuel Lisa, St. Louis businessman and trader with local Indian tribes, responded to such tales by forming an expedition that boated up the Missouri and down the Yellowstone to the mouth of the Bighorn River to establish a fort and trading post. There he initiated trade with the Indians, the principal harvesters of animal furs in America, and sent out his company trappers. Thus begins Ofer’s adventures when his father Yossef released Ofer and his four brothers from their lives as ranchers, to go forth into the American West as fur trappers to satisfy their desires for adventure as foretold by Lewis and Clark. Shortly thereafter, Ofer and his brothers ventured upstream on the Missouri and down the Yellowstone with Lisa, helped construct his fort and then with a mentor named Jan “Bear Trap” Driessen, continued their journey as fur trappers. In the years following, Ofer and his brothers trapped beaver in the lands of the white man-hating Blackfeet and Gros Ventre Indians, battled Indians agitated by competing British fur interests, fought grizzly bears, endured extremes of weather, killed horse thieves and joined the brotherhood of adventurous explorers and fur trappers known today as “Mountain Men”. “Four Scalps” Ofer Tal, Mountain Man, is an epic story of a ‘wilderness man’ whose love for the unexplored American West burrowed into his soul and rested there forever, as did he… Terry Grosz began his 32-year career in wildlife law enforcement in 1966 as a Fish and Game Warden with the California Department of Fish and Game, and later as a Special Agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protecting ‘those’ in the world of wildlife ‘who have little or no voice’… In 1998 he retired from the Service and began a second career as a writer.

    Amongst his few possessions is a dagger which bears an unknown heraldic symbol. He joins a band of mercenaries heading for Venice where the Christians are assembling for the Crusade. On his journey from boy to manhood, discovering a surprisingly natural aptitude for combat, he encounters a secret Brotherhood and their avowed enemy The Order of the Blooded Cross. “The Crusader’s Blade” is the first of three novels that draw heavily on historical detail, intermingling real and fictitious characters and events to give an enthralling portrait of the religious battles of the age.

    

    Reacting instinctively to protect a stranger, Thomas becomes their target. When the bonemen come to inflict punishment he is forced kill one of their number.As he leaves London in the company of Arthur, Prince of Wales, heir to the English throne, Thomas expects no grave consequences for his actions. It’s a mistake that might get both him and his companions killed.Sent to England by the Spanish Queen to watch over Catherine of Aragon on her marriage to Arthur, Thomas intends the duty to be short-lived. But he hasn’t reckoned on the bonemen, who are spreading their influence ever wider. As danger mounts, Thomas is no longer sure he is the man for the task but has no option but to fight, as he always has. For the innocent, for justice, and for his life.Politics and crime collide in Tudor England in a new series of adventures for Thomas Berrington. Join Thomas on his latest journey. Order The Bone Men now.

     A British Intelligence Officer has died in a fall and SIS has asked Harry to liaise with a German Socialist Party member who has been passing information. That’s fine with Harry. He is pleased to be working again, even in a city as devastated as Berlin. Why have SIS chosen him; and was the fall that killed his predecessor really an accident? While waiting for his socialist contact to arrange an important meeting, Harry interests himself in a young Jewish survivor of the camps he sees watching the house where he lives. She insists the Nazis stole the property from her family before sending them to the gas chambers. And she has seen the Gestapo officer she holds responsible, even though everyone says he is dead. But then Harry’s socialist contact is abducted by the Russians and, in return for helping him to defect, the man’s colleague promises Harry something really big. And the Jewish survivor is carrying a shameful secret she appears no longer able to face. Harry is faced with a devastating choice... Praise for The Unquiet Grave: 'An excellent book that made me want to read more — always a good sign. Lots of twists and turns; emotional impacts; deft characterization; and realistic setting' - Netgalley reviewer 'I found myself engrossed by this story' - Netgalley reviewer Born into the austerity of post-war Britain, David J. Oldman began writing in his early twenties. Frequently humorous, and often moving, his books are an examination of ordinary people caught up in life-changing events beyond their control.

    Justice is back. Seeking a greater adventure than bringing law and order to the untamed Texas frontier, Texas Ranger Jesse "Heck" Carson, along with his friend, Tommy Jergsen, enlist in the Confederate Cavalry. They are placed in a special unit tasked with stopping the murderous Jayhawkers who have been carrying on a guerilla war against civilians in Missouri. Heck and his men face the expected horrors of war, but what they didn't expect was to find themselves in the middle of a private war where they don't know who to trust and where the lines between friend and enemy mean nothing. In order to do what is right, they must make decisions that will forever change the course of their lives and which thrusts them into a battle far more violent than anything they ever expected.